EXPERT OPINION: Shared Mobility is the Way Forward
The success of Ola and Uber has shown that the traffic chaos can be offset with resource pooling, communication system and geographical local services.
Aijaz Ahmad Bhat (IPS)
There is always a solution to any problem, but it requires just that identifying the source of the problem. If I am told what plagues our transport system, my answer will be nothing but ‘will to change.’
Will is what we are lacking to change the system. Any layman can observe that the traffic chaos is because of too many private cars on road. These cars are not only plying but also occupying the road while being parked. The fashion of driving your own car is not just wilful, most of the times it is out of compulsion. The public transport has failed and the transport has either been privatised or personalised.
The private transport is the transport of choice because the key is lying in your pocket, you don’t need planning and timing to commute, you want to move just ignite the engine and zoom off.
The private transport does not need switch over, you reach your destination in one piece and the cargo you carry need not be shifted from one vehicle to another on changing the route or station. The private transport does not require waiting for the transport in rain and sun and you don’t have to carry your rucksack on your back.
But private transport has demerits, it is costly to fuel and maintain the vehicle and you have to pay for parking. The private vehicle has to be driven to the destination, you cannot switchover and change the vehicle if traffic is heavy, you have not just rucksack but the car or bike to carry on your shoulder if you want to reach other side of the road. There is the jam, your wheels are jammed, you are jammed. Private transport always makes for poor time management, most often you don’t factor in the traffic bottlenecks, the traffic load and often reach late to your workplace. There is also the possibility of stress and road rage that takes toll on your health. You reach your home exhausted and cannot relax while on way to office or back home.
Shared mobility is the answer to this quest, the only thing to be ensured is that the mode of transport has to have a defined timing on any route. You don’t need to be fast but you need to be sure to reach a particular destination and different locations enroute at a defined time. Shared mobility makes your journey comfortable and you can relax and make good of the time by reading book or newspaper. There is no stress and the cost is minimum. The shared mobility system can be integrated into different modes of transport to ensure efficiency of the system.
The shared mobility can be divided as per the carrying capacity of the transport system and the carrying capacity of the roads. If the roads are wide enough to accommodate big buses, the route should be made exclusively operational for buses. The smaller vehicles can be made operational from the arteries feeding these big roads and there shall be no overlap. The solution is simple , the only thing is that it has to be made sure.
Suppose, I want to reach my office which is ten kilometres distant, and I am told to opt between shared mobility or personal transport. I will weigh my options, if personal transport makes me reach my destination in 15 minutes and costs me two hundred bucks (maintenance charges, cost of the vehicles devaluation and parking charges excluded), while as the shared mobility costs me 50 bucks and takes half an hour for the same distance, I would prefer shared mobility not just because of the savings but because I don’t lose my time either.
I will tell you how I saved on time.
If the transport for shared mobility is sure for its timing to reach at a station and sure of the timing for journey coupled with surety of comfort I would always prefer it because while on journey I can sit, relax, enjoy or fiddle with my phone, laptop or book and even study or do some office work. Here, my time is not wasted. I have actually saved the time and the stress for a private transport.
But one thing has really plagued our system and that is the psyche of the public The public transport entails taking care of your belongings and to tax yourself to safely tuck and carry your load. The psyche of our public is such that the shopping and personal things one carries daily to workplace and home are carried in those fragile polythene bags which will always either break or make your fingers ache if you have to carry the things for longer distance.
This is just a behavioural trait and once the benefits of shared mobility are realised this psyche of carrying things in polybags will be replaced by shoulder strapped rucksacks and people’s pocket will not be deflated and polythene will be used less.
The solution lies in the problem but ‘will to solve’ is lacking!!
(STRAIGHT TALK COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUSIVE. The author is Senior Superintendent of Police, Traffic, Srinagar)
